


Solace In The Strangest Place

by Nevanna



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Episode: s02e20 Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back the Falls, Missing Scene, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-05 14:04:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11579577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nevanna/pseuds/Nevanna
Summary: Wendy collects signatures for her good-bye note to Dipper.





	Solace In The Strangest Place

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place during "Weirdmageddon Part 3," and assumes canon knowledge up through that point.
> 
> The title is from the song "Alive" by Sia.

Wendy hears footsteps approaching the half-finished porch, and looks up from the railing that she’s hammering into place. “Do you need help?” Dipper asks.

“Sure. Hold this beam steady, okay?”

He clambers up the steps. “Like this?”

“Just like that.” Wendy swings the hammer down. She would have volunteered to help repair the Mystery Shack no matter _what_ had damaged it, but chopping, sawing, and hammering have helped to take her mind off those terrifying days. “How’s Mr. Pines doing?”

“A lot better, I think. He doesn’t remember everything yet, but Mabel isn’t giving up. They made pancakes together this morning.”

“What about you?”

“I helped to… oh.” Realizing what she meant, Dipper lowers the brim of his hat. “I’m doing okay, I guess,” he continues. “I can’t really believe I’ll be starting school in less than a week.”

“You think it’ll be easier now that you survived the end of the world?” Wendy asks. If someone asked her the same question, she doesn’t know how she’d answer.

“After everything I’ve done this summer… everything I’ve learned… what if none of it matters once I’m back home?” Dipper asks. 

“Dip-dop!” Mabel pokes her head out the door. “We’re going to tell Grunkle Stan all about Summerween! Are you joining us or not?”

“Go on inside,” Wendy tells him. “I’ll be okay.” She’s gotten used to saying that, whether or not it’s true.

She doesn’t stop thinking about his question.

\--

In the hour before dawn, a sharp rapping at her door jolts Wendy out of sleep. Before she opens it, she glances around the room for potential weapons.

All three of her brothers have woken up from nightmares about eye-bats, about being turned into statues, about the horror that was Bill Cipher. She gathers them all onto her bed, wanting to promise that she’ll protect them, even though she failed so badly at that during Weirdmageddon. Thankfully, for the past few nights, she’s been too exhausted to dream.

She sings as much as she can remember from their mother’s old lullabies, which she’ll never admit to anybody.

When she shows up for repair duty later that morning, Mr. Pines’ brother waves from the doorway. “You’re doing a remarkable job,” he says.

She shrugs. “Happy to help. Stan made the Shack a pretty cool place.”

“Yes.” Ford nods, looking thoughtful. “I suppose that he did.”

“Hey, listen, before we get started?” She unfolds the goodbye note that she was inspired to create the night before. “I’m trying to get as many signatures as I can.”

Ford removes a pen from his coat pocket. “I would be honored.” As he signs his name, he adds, “Dipper is very lucky to have you as a friend. I wish I’d gotten a chance to know you better, as well.” Before she can ask what he means, he says, “We’ll be inside if you need anything.”

\--

Later, she asks Soos if he has any idea what Ford was talking about.

“Dude, I got no idea,” he says. “I thought Mr. Pines – I mean, the one who’s our boss – was gonna have to give up the Mystery Shack at the end of the summer.”

“ _What_?”

“But that was before the world almost ended and he lost his memories and stuff. Now I guess his brother is gonna be the one to leave.” Soos leans closer to her. “I’m kinda relieved. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

“You got by as a handyman in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, didn’t you?” Wendy points out.

“Maybe, but this is where I belong.”

“I won’t argue with that.” She holds out the note for him to sign. “So, when do I get to hear those folk songs that people made up about you?”

\--

After she’s finished with work for the day, Wendy rides her bike to Greasy’s Diner. She and her friends order milkshakes and a large order of spicy fries, and Wendy asks, “So how are you guys holding up?” That question will have to stand in for the ones that she’s not sure how to ask. 

“I’m thinking that pre-calc is gonna be a lot less scary now,” Lee remarks.

“You’re _not_ copying off me again,” Tambry says, swinging her feet into Robbie’s lap.

“Would you mind signing this for Dipper?” Wendy hands the note across the table, careful to keep it clear of a suspicious-looking stain.

Robbie hesitates before he accepts the marker from Nate. “Got a problem, dude?” Wendy asks.

“I guess I did once,” he says, adding a tiny picture of a skull next to his signature. “But the pipsqueak did save our butts from the creepy triangle apocalypse, and stuff, right?”

“Begging your pardon?” A shadow falls over the table. It’s much taller than its owner. “What were y’all talking about?”

“Hey there, Mr. Mayor!” Thompson sputters. “We were just, um, tossing around ideas for Robbie’s next album! _Creepy Triangle Apocalypse_ really captures his vision!”

“And where might that name have come from?” Mayor Cutebiker prompts.

“Never mind all that!” Lazy Susan sing-songs, setting down their milkshakes. 

Even without the Society of the Blind Eye to meddle with their memories, the townspeople are still expected to unsee what they’ve seen. Wendy tries to smile, but she’s clenching her teeth. When she sees Robbie roll his eyes, she’s more grateful to him in that moment than she has been all summer.

“What’s that you’ve got there?” The mayor peers at Wendy’s note, and when she explains, he signs his name with a flourish. Susan adds her own signature before she moves on to the next booth.

“So, what _are_ you going to call your new album, man?” Nate asks Robbie.

The six of them share the basket of spicy fries, blow straw wrappers into each other’s hair, and debate whether _Midnight Inferno_ or _Purgatory Chasm_ would be a more memorable title. 

Maybe, by the time they see each other next, Wendy will forgive herself for believing that the fantasy illusions of her friends were any substitute for the real thing.

\--

The next day, she runs into Candy and Grenda outside the general store.

“We just finished our back-to-school shopping!” Grenda announces. “I found a binder with Ultra Woman on the cover!”

“You didn’t want the ones with unicorns on them?” Wendy teases. The other girls shudder.

“The unicorns don’t deserve to grace our school supplies,” Candy declares.

“I don’t think they’ll forget us anytime soon,” Wendy says with a grin.

“We could not have done it without you,” Candy tells her. “And we were wondering…” She hugs her shopping bags to her chest. “Do you think perhaps, if you aren’t too busy…”

“Could you teach us to kick butt like you do?” Grenda jumps in.

“…In case anybody or anything in this town tries to hurt us again,” Candy adds. “We want to be ready.” 

“I’ll think about it,” Wendy says, even though she’s already made up her mind. Does the thought of Bill make them as furious as it makes her? “Don’t expect me to go easy on you.”

“We can take whatever you dish out!” Candy puts up her fists.

Wendy laughs. She’s already planning their first training session. “Before we talk about that, would you mind signing this for me?”

\--

She almost expects zombies or dinosaurs, or something even worse, to interrupt Dipper and Mabel’s birthday party, and she suspects that some of the other guests feel the same way.

“Time for the city boy to take his detecting back to the city,” Sheriff Blubs says, taking the pen from Wendy and holding it out to his deputy. “After you.”

“No, no, after _you_!” Deputy Durland responds.

“Um, where did you get that cannon?” Wendy asks, nodding toward the enormous metal contraption that _definitely_ wasn’t on the lawn this morning.

“We’ve had it for a long time,” Blubs replies proudly.

“It ain’t our fault if some people can’t recognize a cannon when it’s right in front of them!” Durland proclaims.

“You always know what to say,” Blubs says affectionately, and the two officers link arms.

\--

“You should ask Pacifica to sign your card for Dipper,” Mabel whispers, pointing across the lawn.

“You’re not kidding, are you?” Wendy’s dad used to tell stories about how the Northwest family wronged their ancestors, and even though she didn’t believe in ghosts or curses before this summer, she believes that they’d screw over anybody who stopped being useful to them. “I didn’t even know you guys were friends. She was pretty mean to you when you first met.”

“I think she’s starting to grow up, too,” Mabel suggests. “You know how awful her parents are, so if she doesn’t want to be like them, that’s a pretty good start.” She winks. “Either way, it would make my brother really, _really_ happy.”

Wendy files away _that_ one for later, and brings her note over to Pacifica. “I didn’t think I’d end up here, either,” is all that the younger girl says as she dots an “i” in her name with a heart.

As Pacifica replaces the cap on her pink pen, Gideon Gleeful tugs at Wendy’s sleeve and asks if he can add his name, too. She _really_ isn’t sure what he’s doing at the party, but she does know that she’ll kick his ass into the next county if he tries anything creepy with Mabel.

When his enormous prison buddies recognize her, Wendy has the satisfaction of seeing them take a step back.

\--

By now, Wendy has trained herself not to react when Fiddleford McGucket exclaims, “Hey there, Frances!”

“Wendy,” she corrects him, swallowing hard. “Frances was… is…” She’s never sure which word to use. She suspects sometimes that she never will. “You’re thinking of my mom.” 

“I sure do apologize, Wendy. Guess my mind still ain’t back up to snuff. That don’t mean I ain’t grateful to you kids for helping me get it back!”

“Well, you saved _our_ minds, too,” Wendy points out. “We helped each other.” 

“Helpin’ each other… I like the sound of that.” McGucket beams and points at his signature. “That there’s my name!”

Out of the corner of her eye, Wendy can see Dipper signaling her to join him and Mabel on the steps. She and her friends gather around to wish them well.

\--

Stan Pines seems to either be back to his old self or giving the most convincing performance of his life. He grunts as he stares at the note, reading the message out loud: “‘See you next summer,’ huh?”

“I don’t know how that’s going to work when you and your brother are sailing around the world, but…” Wendy trails off.

“You think I’m going to let those kids down?” he demands. “And I ain’t your boss anymore, so don’t bother lying to get on my good side.”

“I _know_ you’ll try not to let them down,” Wendy says, and means it.

He sticks out his hand. “Thanks for looking out for them when I couldn’t.”

She accepts it. “Hey, listen…” She’s not sure which of them is worse at this. “If you hadn’t given me a job at the Shack, I wouldn’t have gotten to know them in the first place. So I guess I should say… I mean, I should be the one to thank…”

“Don’t embarrass yourself, kiddo,” Stan says, and wraps his other hand around hers. “Try to stay out of trouble while I’m gone, okay?”

“Stay out of trouble?” Wendy repeats. “In Gravity Falls? We’ll see about that.”

\--

The morning carries a chill that makes Wendy think of the first day of school. While they wait for the bus that will take Dipper and Mabel home, she hands over the goodbye note, which she hopes will remind Dipper of how much his summer _did_ matter, and how much he matters to the people that he’s leaving behind.

He’ll be okay.

Maybe she and her family will be okay, too. She’s not very good at staying _out_ of trouble, but she’ll do her best to get through it.


End file.
